NewsBreak Original

It's rare to experience two power outages within two weeks, but that's exactly what recently in Holyoke. Caused by a period of high demand secondary to extremely cold weather, Holyoke Gas and Electric issued the following statement:

The homeless ones. You've seen them around Holyoke, some of them standing in the median strip of high traffic areas, clutching signs, hoping to gain a few cents from drivers as they stop at red lights. You've seen them on High Street and Main. They here in Holyoke, as well as every town in the Commonwealth.

We all want to live as healthy a lifestyle as we can. And we want to be happy as well. The more comfortable our lives, the better. Unfortunately, some of us have issues that we've carried with us from our youth into adulthood, like depression. I'm not referring to periods of sadness we encounter as a response to a disturbing event. These are situational and as soon as the situation changes, so does the sadness or depression associated with it.

From a distance, you’ve probably seen them, those large birdhouse-like structures perched atop a pole, lining some of the streets in Holyoke. Upon closer examination, you see a door, and when you open the door to look inside, you find books; big books, small books, hardcovers, paperbacks, children’s books, and books for adults. You’ll even find some bestsellers inside and out-of-print rarities if you search long enough.

The pasteurization of milk was developed less than a century due to dairy cows being fed industrial waste while living in confined urban settings. These less than desirable environmental factors made our milk unfit to drink.

There’s nothing like fresh herbs from the garden to make your meals taste better and give them that added flavorful oomph. But you don’t have to wait for warmer weather to have fresh herbs all year round. You don’t need soil, and you don’t need lots of space. All you really need to grow herbs hydroponically is water, a few glass containers, and light.

Holyoke Medical Center's designated COVID-19 Testing site on the main campus of the hospital has been relocated to the Auxiliary Conference Center around toward the back of the facility. Those looking to be tested should follow the posted signage for directions, then call the number listed on the signs from their car when they arrive at the hospital grounds. Please remain in your car until asked to enter the facility to be tested.

Winter may be here and along with it, frozen earth that can't produce the vegetables and other forms of produce we may find at our local Farmer's Markets during the warmer weather. Other products you may find at the markets like organic milk, flowers, homemade bread, jams and jellies, honey, cheeses, maple products, eggs, and locally made foods, seem to disappear as well. So, where do all the Farmer's Markets go when the weather turns cold?

The average Holyoker generates over 4 pounds of trash every day, which, if you pull out your calculator, equals about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year. And that’s a lot of trash.

The at-home COVID-19 test kids that were distributed by the state of Massachusetts have arrived in Holyoke and are ready to be picked up. Holyoke will be sending home test kits with every student in their public school system and kits will be available at the following agencies:

For three years running, the data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program - a collection of the number of offenses that come to the attention of law enforcement for violent crime and property crime across each town, city, state, and region - rated Holyoke among the top three as one of the most dangerous cities in Massachusetts. This is despite the fact that the crime rate in Holyoke has been steadily decreasing for the past five years. This year, the crime rate in Holyoke has decreased by 12.55%. Arrests are down as well.

Earlier this month, there was another black bear sighting in the Holyoke Highlands area. This wasn’t just another sighting similar to the frequent ones seen of a momma bear and her cubs parading across the streets in search of less populated ground. This bear had somehow got itself inside one women’s cast-iron fenced-in back yard and taken down her recently refilled bird feeder, looking for the seed treats within it. It stayed there for at least 30 minutes until she came out and made noises loud enough to scare it back over her fence and down into the dingle.

The Baker-Polito administration has purchased 2.1 million OTC rapid-antigen COVID-19 test kits that will be delivered to 102 Massachusetts towns this week. Holyoke, as well as Amherst, Northampton, Huntington, South Hadley, Springfield, and Ware, are among the 102 municipalities the administration has targeted as being among those Massachusetts towns with the highest percentage of families living at or below the poverty level. These towns account for almost 3.7 million Massachusetts residents.